Carpet cleaning solutions derive their popularity from the fact that most carpets are easily soiled due to their high exposure to traffic and spills. Cleaning solutions provide a way to maintain pleasant aesthetic qualities for these carpets and avoid the expensive but often used remedy of replacing soiled carpets.
A variety of solutions are known in the art for cleaning carpets. U.S. Pat. No. 2,625,515 discloses the use of alcohols and boric acid in a cleaning solution. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,090,974 and 4,781,855 teach the inclusion of sodium tripolyphosphate in cleaning solutions, while U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,259,848 and 5,728,669 teach the use of hydrogen peroxide in cleaning solutions.
While not without merit, the none of these inventions include the advantages of the present invention. These advantages include an increased ability to remove scuffmarks and stubborn stains, including stains from wine and coffee, over that previously known. The invention also freshens and deodorizes the carpets to which it is applied. It inhibits the growth of mildew and can help to remove other allergens such as dust, mites, and animal dander.
Use of the present solution improves the luster of a worn carpet by mercerizing, slack mercerizing and decating the carpet fabric. These processes typically involve the treatment of fabric with caustic soda or steam and hot water solutions. They are often used to improve the luster and strength of fabrics. The present solution includes certain combinations of caustic chemicals that have effects equivalent or similar to those of mercerizing and decating when applied to carpet fabric. It is believed that the inclusion of other chemicals at particular amounts not typically used while mercerizing or decating increases the effectiveness of the solution as a whole in this regard.
The staining of carpets is generally understood to result from either the formation of ionic bonds between the fibers of a carpet and anionic staining material (in the case of acid dyes) or simple absorption of staining components by the carpet fibers. Although carpet fibers are typically treated to prevent staining, these procedures are not entirely effective and there is a need for a solution to help remove these stains from carpet fibers.
The present invention includes a distinct combination of essential ingredients. The prior art does not teach or suggest the chemical composition disclosed. The particular combination results in a cleaning solution with properties beyond those that might otherwise have been expected from such a solution. The whole here has properties greater than the sum of its parts.